Both Obama, Romney committed to tough action on N. Korea

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- If re-elected, U.S. President Barack Obama will continue to confront North Korea unless it abandons its nuclear program, according to the Obama camp's election platform released on Tuesday.

Obama is set to launch his formal re-election campaign later this week, with the Democratic National Convention under way in North Carolina.

He is scheduled to deliver an acceptance speech at the convention on Thursday to detail his policy plans.

The Obama camp emphasized that Pyongyang has a "stark choice: take verifiable steps toward denuclearization or face increasing isolation and costs from the United States and the international community."

"That is why the administration worked with international partners to impose the harshest multilateral sanctions on North Korea in history," the platform read.

The transfer of nuclear weapons or material by North Korea to states or non-state entities, it added, would be considered a "grave threat" to the U.S. and its allies.

"We would hold North Korea accountable for the consequences of such action," it said, without mentioning a commitment to diplomacy.

Four years ago, the Obama camp said, "We will continue direct diplomacy and are committed to working with our partners through the six-party talks." The nuclear talks, also involving South Korea, China, Russia and Japan, have been stalled for years.

On a broader Asia policy, the Obama side made clear in the updated platform that it would proceed with a policy to place more focus on the Asia-Pacific region.

"In fact, this is in recognition that the United States has been, and always will be, a Pacific power," it said.

Obama's rival, Mitt Romney of the Republican Party, appears to have a similar policy vision for the Korean Peninsula -- bolstering the alliance with South Korea and getting tough on nuclear-armed North Korea.

In the Republican election platform, North Korea's nuclear program is portrayed as a "serious menace to world peace."

"As president, Mitt Romney will commit to eliminating North Korea's nuclear weapons and its nuclear-weapons infrastructure," it said.

The Romney camp accuses Obama of responding "with weakness" to North Korea's nuclear ambitions and other global threats.

In particular, Romney advocates "American exceptionalism."

He believes China, as the world's second largest economy and a military power, should become a responsible partner in resolving international issues.

"While the potential for conflict with an authoritarian China could rise as its power grows, the United States must pursue policies designed to encourage Beijing to embark on a course that makes conflict less likely," the Romney camp said in a handbook on its foreign policy. "China must be discouraged from attempting to intimidate or dominate neighboring states."

On the contrary, Obama stressed the need for continued efforts to build a "cooperative relationship" with China.